The big picture: PNG's grand plan to satisfy the masses

ROY MASTERS

Papua New Guinea's bid to join the NRL is well advanced, with a novel solution to the problem of convincing the 16 clubs it can deliver increases in broadcasting revenue, despite the young nation having limited TV sets.

A bid team met NRL chief executive David Gallop recently and explained it would fill a new stadium in Port Moresby with paying customers, all watching away games on big screens set around the arena.

The fans might not count as TV viewers in the OzTam definition but would send a powerful message to sponsors if they regularly filled a stadium.

Already, leading PNG companies have supported the bid, with Coca-Cola contributing 500,000 kina ($209,000) a year for three years and total sponsorships already exceeding five million kina. The PNG Government has committed 20.5m kina to the bid, with most reserved for the construction of a 30,000-seat stadium in Port Moresby.

The stadium will be used during the South Pacific Games in 2015, the same year as the bid committee hopes to field a team in the NRL.

The PNG minister for sport, Philemon Embel, told the Herald, ''Our government wants to build a stadium in Port Moresby. In view of the successful bid for the 2015 South Pacific Games and the PNG bid for an NRL licence, it is possible that the government could fund the stadium but there are also other options open. Given time constraints, it is most likely that the government will undertake funding itself. Whatever the cost, the government is ready to build the stadium. The PNG Government is 100 per cent behind this NRL bid.''

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A park in Port Moresby's National Capital District already displays NRL and State of Origin matches on big screens, with the city Governor, Powes Parkop, enthusiastic for the role rugby league plays in bonding the nation's 800 disparate tribes and reducing crime.

''Here in Port Moresby, we have been able to translate the passion our people have for NRL games and State of Origin into positive community initiatives,'' Governor Parkop said. ''We have, since 2008, been showing the game on big screens throughout the city. On game night, 14,000 to 15,000 people are turning up and they reckon it is better than watching it at home. The atmosphere is electric but peaceful and harmonious. We have created a family friendly environment and I am very pleased to say that we have had very few incidents. We endeavour to create an alcohol free environment during the 'show' to enable families to come out, especially mothers and children. This initiative is helping us to transform the culture of this city which used to be known for crime and violence and other negative things. In the last two years, we have reduced opportunity crime by up to 50 per cent. This is what I want David Gallop and other NRL executives to know, appreciate and experience that the game is more than a game here in PNG. It has the ability to impact positively on all walks of life in PNG.''

An indication of the hold rugby league has on the nation's population was a recent government edict making the sport a mandatory part of the curriculum in all schools.

Even in ice hockey obsessed Canada, or the Nordic countries passionate about cross country skiing, it is unlikely a specific sport has been made a compulsory subject, along with spelling and arithmetic.

Minister Embel and Governor Parkop led the delegation to meet Gallop late last month, with the NRL boss insisting problems the bid team have experienced in dealing with the rugby league establishment in PNG must be resolved before the country's candidature can be taken seriously.

In the same way there were strained relationships between the QRL and the Broncos when the Brisbane team entered the NRL in 1988, the PNGRL fears its status as host of visiting national teams could be undermined.

However, Gallop used the PNG bid to extol the NRL's no draft policy, saying in a press release distributed to PNG media, ''One of the things we often get criticised for is not having an external draft like other sports. But in fact one of our greatest strengths is that local kids can grow up to become local heroes. Wouldn't it be great if one day local kids can grow up to be local heroes in PNG and play in the NRL?''

Given that the next NRL broadcasting contract will begin in 2013, only two years before PNG hopes to have a team in the NRL, it seems the next media deal will be short term, or the bid's time frame must be reviewed … or an existing NRL team must fall over.

The PNG bid team has rejected the suggestion it should invest in a vulnerable Sydney NRL club, opting to support the Central Coast's bid in order to bring the number of NRL teams to 18, meaning nine games a week.

The general manager of the PNG bid is Bev Broughton, a very capable sports marketing consultant who is married to Paul Broughton, chairman of the Titans.

Minister Embel recently toured Skilled Park on the Gold Coast and considered it a model for Port Moresby's planned arena.